Fresh WaterThis planet Earth is sometimes called as a "water planet." About 71% of the Earth's surface is covered with water. But most of the Earth's water is the salt water found in ocean. Only 3% of the Earth's water is fresh. Fresh water is found in the high range mountains as a form of ice or snow, and in the polar regions. Groundwater is the liquid form of fresh water and it is found underground within cracks and between particles of rock and soil. Water cycle is a continuous movement of water among the ocean, atmosphere, and underground. The energy of the Sun and the force of gravity power the water cycle. Water cycle is made out of three processes and they are evaporation, condensation, and precipitation.
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Evaporation• Process that changes a liquid into a gas
• Warm, moist air expands and rises, carrying the water vapor into the atmosphere |
Condensation• Process where water vapor form droplets on small particles in the air
• Form clouds |
Precipitation• When droplets get heavy, gravity causes them to fall to the ground
• Rain, snow, sleet, hail, or freezing rain |
Glacier |
Glacier is a large mass of moving ice and snow on land. Most fresh water is located in the glacier. This will be important when we talk about the shaping of the Earth, which will be discussed in Aspect 2.
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